Smarter merchandisers create smarter retailers

Leading through customer focus, collaboration and analytics

The term “customer-centric” has almost become a cliché. Retailers everywhere talk about focusing on digitally enfranchised shoppers and providing a more personalized, interactive experience. But recent research by the IBM Center for Applied Insights shows that the majority of retailers are still struggling to become customer-oriented. Those who are succeeding, by contrast, are putting the customer at the heart of the merchandising process.

This survey of 325 senior merchandising executives identified a small group of firms that outperform their peers, thanks to three traits:

They put the customer at the heart of the way they work, how they measure success, even how they’re organized

They collaborate across internal and external boundaries to serve customers better

They use analytics to get smarter with every customer interaction

Understanding leading retailers: Insights from the IBM Retail Merchant survey